The banquet is prepared. It is "a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure choice wines." It is even more than that. This feast is the antidote to death and the medicine of immortality.
On this mountain he will destroy
the veil that veils all peoples,
the web that is woven over all nations;
he will destroy death forever.
What could be better than coming to this feast on the holy mountain of the LORD? Nothing could be better. Yet we become so distracted with just about anything else. Somehow we take offense at the suggestion that there could even be more.
Some ignored the invitation and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business.
The rest laid hold of his servants,
mistreated them, and killed them.
The kingdom is a threat to business as usual. We ourselves have more at stake in business as usual than we realize. It is largely built on our work and what we have done and created for ourselves. To acknowledge the kingdom means coming to terms with our own insufficiency. The feasts we ourselves prepare are less than nothing compared to the feast to which we are invited.
It is only in Christ that life takes on its true meaning. We work for food which ultimately leaves us hungry. Jesus gives the bread that satisfies.
I can do all things in him who strengthens me.
Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress.
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